


No Longer Your Puppet

by starfairywrites



Category: Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (Webseries)
Genre: AU, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfairywrites/pseuds/starfairywrites
Summary: Tony and Shrignold escape Roy's clutches and become human again, no longer forced to be sadistic teachers. Do they risk their new freedom to save Paige?
Relationships: Paige the Sketchbook/Tony the Clock, Paige the Sketchbook/Tony the Talking Clock, colin - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	No Longer Your Puppet

Tony and Shrignold landed on the desert ground with a thud. The portal above them wisped away, leaving only a faint mist of energy in the air.

Tony groaned and picked himself up, his gloved fingers clawing into the dry soil. He grabbed his head as a sharp pain pulsed through it. It felt like they’d been falling for minutes. Why wasn’t every bone in his body broken?

Then it came back all at once. A sickeningly long yellow hand reaching towards him, pushing him backward. Nothing for him to grab onto. Just darkness. Her face. She was-

“Owwww,” said Shrignold. Tony turned around and saw the pint-sized man rubbing his back in pain. There was something different about him. Tony’s jaw dropped.

“Shrig,” said Tony. “You’re not blue anymore.”

Shrignold blinked. He looked at his hands before hurriedly taking off one of his white gloves. The skin underneath was tan and human. Tony quickly followed suit, removing a black glove. He flexed his fingers, almost as if he was unsure if they were his own.

Shrignold patted his own back. “No wings.”

He snapped out of his shock and turned to Tony, hands on his hips. “Wait, is that all you have to say to me? Not ‘Are you alright, Shrignold?’ or ‘I’m so glad you’re okay, Shrignold!’”

Tony stood up and brushed sand off the front of his jacket. He looked down at his long black coat and gaudy striped bowtie. Somehow, they were human again, yet they were still wearing their ridiculous get-ups. Shrig wore a yellow scarf and a ridiculously large heart-shaped medallion. The void they came from was cold and damp, but this new environment was hot and dry. They were horrendously overdressed.

“Come on,” said Tony, helping Shrignold to his feet. “Let’s get going.”

“Where?” asked Shrig. Tony looked around. It seemed like there was only sand for miles. Their outfits were coated in a thin layer of red dust. Finally, something familiar caught Tony’s eye. He grabbed Shrignold’s hand and started walking forward.

“Civilization,” said Tony. “We should get there in-” Tony stopped. That was odd. Normally, Tony knew every minute, every second of the day. It was as if his internal clock had shut off. Tony grabbed his chest. He could no longer feel the faint ticking of clock hands beneath his suit jacket, nor the clicking of gears. Only the beating pulse of a human heart.

“We’ll get there when we get there,” he said, yanking his companion forward.

~~

The bells on the door chimed as Shrignold and Tony entered Roy’s Gas Station and Convenience Store. The name was just a coincidence, but it made Tony shiver nonetheless. The burly clerk looked down from the magazine he was reading and scowled. Tony awkwardly avoided his gaze as he walked past, hyper aware of his ridiculous outfit. He quickly grabbed the first normal looking clothes he could find and shoved them into Shrignold’s arms.

“Here,” Tony said. “Go into the bathroom and change into these.”

Shrignold looked at the pink flowered Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts he’d been handed. “What’s wrong with the clothes I have on?”

“You look like a circus clown,” said Tony. “So do I. We need to blend in.”

“Is this part of your plan?” asked Shrignold. Tony rolled his eyes.

“Yes, it’s all part of the plan,” said Tony, shoving Shrignold along. The man behind the counter slowly lifted his magazine up again.

~~

Once Shrignold was dressed, it was Tony’s turn. He walked past his friend into the grimy gas station bathroom. The former clock changed into cargo shorts and a hideous green and blue flowered Hawaiian shirt. He looked like a clueless tourist. After years of being forced to star in a nightmarish children’s television show, reality was a foreign land. He stared at himself in the dirty mirror. A stranger looked back. He wasn’t blue anymore, that was for sure. There was a scar above his nose that stretched from cheek to cheek. It was as if two clock hands had been burned into his face. He traced his fingers along them.

There was a knock at the door. “Everything okay?” said Shrignold in his sing-song voice.

“Y-Yeah,” said Tony. He gathered up his clothes and rushed out the door.

The two wandered the snack aisles, Shrignold grabbing every sugary treat in sight. He hummed happily while Tony followed in silence. Tony was so used to having to drown out his internal clock. Now there was nothing to drown out but thoughts of her.

“So what’s phase two of the plan?” asked Shrignold.

“What do you mean?” said Tony. Shrignold turned around abruptly, a bag of kettle corn falling out of his arms and onto the ground.

“The plan to rescue Paige,” Shrignold said matter of factly. Tony froze. He scowled and rushed past Shrig towards the beverages. Shrignold skipped to catch up with him as he opened the fridge door and grabbed the first can he saw.

“What’s wrong?” the tiny man asked.

“There is no plan,” said Tony. He began shaking the can in anger without realizing. “Paige made her choice to stay. Not only that, remember what happened when we tried to save Colin? We’re incapable of rescuing anybody. We’re on our own. After we find our way back home, we can go back to our normal lives and never speak of this again.”

Shrignold dropped all his goodies to the ground. His eyes filled with tears. “You can’t mean that. You love-”

“Ah ah ah! I told you! I’m going back to my normal life!” Tony snapped. He fumbled with the can’s tab. “I want to forget all about those kids, all about being forced to sing against my will, and all about P-”

Soda exploded from the can, pouring down Tony’s hand to the floor. He quickly brought the drink to his lips and gulped it down. 

“You love her,” Shrignold insisted. His eyes filled with tears. “Love is the most important thing in the world.”

Tony finished the drink and exhaled loudly, pretending he didn’t hear the other man. He crushed the can. “How do you know? What does love matter when we’re all going to age and die regardless? Maybe you’re still getting over that song you had to sing.”

“We have to try!”

“I don’t have to do anything! And you didn’t have to follow me through that portal!” Tony shoved past Shrignold into an aisle. He froze after coming face to face with a familiar product.

“I followed you because I care about you,” said Shrig. He put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Paige cares about you, too. There has to be some explanation for why she stayed behind. We have to go back for her.”

“Well, you’re in luck, my optimistic friend,” said Tony, picking up the package of food. “I think I found a clue.”

Tony turned around and shoved the bag into Shrignold’s hands. Shrignold looked at the green and yellow packaging and nearly dropped it.

OATS!

“Not only that,” said Tony, turning the bag to the other side. “We have an address.”

On the bottom corner of the bag, above the barcode, underneath a graphic design of a sunset over a field, was the location of Roy’s Factory. Tony and Shrig grinned at each other. A shadow loomed over them. They looked up to see the burly cashier glaring down at them.

“Are you two gonna pay for all of this?” he growled, gesturing to the spilled snacks and soda. 

Tony shoved his hand into Shrignold’s pocket and produced the giant heart medallion, shoving it into the large tattooed man’s hands.

“Here,” he said, “Keep the change.”

With that, the two ran out of the store with a bag of oats.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic on AO3! I wanted to explore the idea of the characters being humans who escape the DHMIS show. If I keep writing, I'm inspired by sci-fi media like Maniac (2018) on Netflix and Eternal Sunshine to incorporate into the backstory. Should I continue?


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